


Demon Tomb

by Robin Gills (Akiseo)



Series: Soul Group [1]
Category: The Vampire Diaries (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Ancient Egypt, Ancient History, Ancient Rome, Angst and Fluff and Smut, Archaeology, Betrayal, Bisexuality, Blood, Blood Drinking, Eventual Threesome, Fate, Happy Ending, History, Hurt Damon Salvatore, Love, M/M, Past Lives, Porn With Plot, Reincarnation, Rimming, Sex, Slutty Damon Salvatore, Soul Groups, Threesome - M/M/M, Topping from the Bottom, Wordcount: 10.000-30.000
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-17
Updated: 2019-06-17
Packaged: 2020-05-13 07:06:36
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 13,134
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19246261
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Akiseo/pseuds/Robin%20Gills
Summary: Ric's just trying to get through this year-long dig, finish his dissertation, and maybe finally resolve some sexual tension with his advisor. But he accidentally opens a door to the Demon Tomb. Ric's compelled inside with its undead occupant and he discovers quickly, it's not so bad. The man inside the tomb also holds the answers to the dreams he's been having all his life. Ric's possibly connected to the 'demon' and his advisor by more than just chance.---"I'm going to fuck you so hard."Ric's drowning in kohl-rimmed pale blue eyes. "Okay.""I know why you like this one, Elijah. He does remind me of someone.""I want- We need him alive Damon," Ric hears the distress in Elijah's voice.





	Demon Tomb

**Author's Note:**

> Soul Groups = Set of individuals which you most frequently reincarnate with over the span of time.
> 
>  
> 
> Watched a lot of Indian Jones and listened to a lot of Mysterious Universe episodes on reincarnation and soul group podcasts lately. This is kind of the result.

Alaric takes the fine bristled brush and lightly sweeps the sand away from the cartouche symbol expertly chiseled into the stone. He pauses a moment to adjust his bandana to keep the sun off his neck. He's not looking to make his farmers tan any worse. He stupidly got sunburned the first day on the Egyptian dig and he's still a little embarrassed about it, months later. He's not the only Ph.D. student who burned at some point that first week though. Even if you don't burn easily, the sun can take a toll. Not to mention sand gets everywhere and sand in underwear makes everyone uncomfortable no matter who you are.  
   
Ric blows gently at the remaining sand having loosened enough to reveal the whole cartouche. He gets out a toothbrush to clean gently at the indentations, define the outline in greater detail. Most people think archaeology is Indian Jones without the Nazi's but it's not even usually exploring tombs. A lot of the time you don't get to go out into the field much and when you do it's sitting or lying uncomfortably in the dirt or mud in the sweltering heat or freezing cold. Ric's been lucky or not so lucky to get into the field as much as he has. He'd done some work for a professor in Newfoundland at a proposed Leif Erikson Viking settlement during his undergrad and he swears he lost some feeling in his toes it was so cold, even in fall. He vaguely wishes for that right now though. At least there was no sand in Canada. Egypt's been tough on his white academic Boston ass.

He pauses again after defining the cartouche and he looks around. He can't get enough of the view though. They're lucky that at least their dig site is at the edge of an oasis. The pyramid is just outside the greenery but as they uncover it, it's allowed for a marvelous view of palm trees and green. Beyond it and all around are the sands of the Sahara. The next town is a five-hour car ride away through the dunes. They've been here since last January but he will be a little sad to leave in December. The fall school semester will be over but they only have until then to complete their study on the site. Professor Elijah Mikealeson was given a research sabbatical for the last year and he took quite a few Ph.D. students along.

It's worked out really well for Ric and his dissertation. He'd taken a risk, after Isobel cheated on him and after he'd dumped her, he'd chosen to return to Boston to get his Ph.D. with a focus on Egyptology and not the Civil War in Virginia as he'd initially planned. He's been glad every day that he did. Elijah, as he'd asked Ric to call him, is his advisor. Ric would already be spending hours with him working through his dissertation but when Ric expressed interest on Elijah's focus of research early on, he'd taken Ric further under his direction and Ric has been helpful in quite a few finds for him. They've already co-written several papers together.

They're out here in the desert looking for the tomb Elijah's been after since his own Ph.D. on the 'Demon' tomb. Most Egyptologists have written it off. It had been mentioned in a discovered document almost thirty years ago but it was believed to be a good bedtime story. Shesmu Reincarnate, the goddess of blood reawakened to take the blood of the unjust. There's not much description of it or where it's meant to be. No drawings of its initial construction or completion. Only rumors and speculation of who ordered its construction and who or what's inside. Elijah's own dissertation discussed a scrap of tablet that he'd found and argued it was a materials list for the tomb. Beyond that, only vague mentions of it, myth, and Elijah's steadfast belief. It was Elijah's determination that made Ric want to focus his own dissertation on it.

The rumors and what physical evidence they did have made it a compelling focus of study. Last year Ric had been able to identify a potential dig site with new LiDAR mapping techniques. A small portion of a man-made object finally peeking out of the sands. He'd never seen Elijah look more excited, which is really saying something. His advisor doesn't exactly display his emotions. Elijah and Ric had become quite close after that. Elijah had invited him out to a bar and they'd had top-shelf whiskey in celebration. Ric got the sense Elijah might have wanted more that night but he'd never made a move. Ric had perhaps been too cautious as well and hadn't made one either. They'd shared more and more time together though. Ric spent many nights having fallen asleep on Elijah's couch. Late nights at Elijah's very nice penthouse apartment, too nice really for a young college professor, re-reading books or maps, making plans, and arrangements. Elijah had somehow magically retained the rights to dig in the area in a matter of months which is practically unheard of.

Ric returns his focus to the toppled obelisk's next symbols covered in caked sand, the adjacent oasis has occasionally flash flooded since the pyramids' construction and there are a few layers of hard sand. He's the only one working in this area for the most part. He has a hunch and he's eager to prove it. He's spent most of the summer uncovering the obelisk and the base on this, the backside, of the pyramid. It has a subtle ridge that could indicate a doorway in the main structure but Elijah asked him to focus on clearing and cleaning the obelisk first. He doesn't think Elijah is overly concerned about Ric 'beating' him to what's inside but Ric doesn't really care so much about getting inside first either.

Elijah and a few of the other Ph.D. students are focused on the front that faces the sunrise and a few spots in the area that they found evidence of mankind. They'd managed to open a few rooms to the pyramid but they've been dead-end decoy passageways or empty rooms. Typically, they'd be right, usually, the entrances faces the sunrise. If they really have found the 'demon' tomb though it would make sense that it doesn't follow traditional Egyptian tombs. There's still some doubt if they have actually found the tomb they're looking for. The more they uncovered at the pyramid the less it looked like a burial site. Ric mentioned it to Elijah who agreed but didn't seem deterred. To Ric it looked like its original intent was a temple and near the end of its construction it was abandoned and hasty warnings put on the walls. There are no traditional burial markers. No declarations of great deeds, statues, or carved walls of who lies beneath the pyramid when they opened any of the rooms.

Ric had seen the amount of moon and night symbols in the area, half-completed writings on the wall, as they uncovered at the front and on other wall hieroglyphs to consider switching his focus to the back of the pyramid, the 'moon' side. Elijah had agreed somewhat reluctantly to let him start digging on his own on the backside. Ric firmly believed he'd find something on this side, he didn't know exactly what though. Something a-typical and something that did not want to greet Ra as he climbs the sky but Nuit, the goddess of the night. He's not sure if the intended purpose was for devout moon worshipers or just anti-Ra. He's seen a few hasty glyphs with the Shesmu chiseled into the obelisk. Which is very strange, the hastiness of it and how out of context they are. Like Shesmu wasn’t the initial plan for this pyramid-temple. At any rate, he's still working on that part of his new theory but there's a lot of architecture and script at the back to make it a significant find. He's hoping he'll have his dissertation wrapped up in another year but there's still a lot to do at the dig. He hopes Elijah can get the permits for next year or possibly the year after.

Ric shakes his head out of those thoughts. That's still a ways off. He gets out his toothbrush again and pushes down on some particularly stubborn dirt. Suddenly the raised circle he was removing caked sand from at the base of the obelisk sinks into the column. It stops when it's flush against the stone. "Huh, " Ric mutters. He's never seen anything like it on an obelisk. Sometimes around doors but not on an obelisk. Ric takes out a bigger brush and sweeps away the sand around the rest of the base. He can see two other sort of possible 'buttons', caked with mud. He takes out his smaller brush and with a little work and muscle, the other two sink into the column as well. Suddenly he hears rocks grinding against each other and he turns to the pyramid behind him to see the area of the suspected doorway recessed and slowly drop down into the sand.

Ric stares at it opened mouth. 'Holy shit,' he thinks.

"Holy shit," he hears someone behind him say. Ric turns. It's a new first-year Ph.D. student from somewhere in Virginia, Kol. He's been annoyingly everywhere Ric has been this summer. He always wants to help Ric out or see what Ric's found. Ric's started to get a little worried the guys trying to short cut his way through his Ph.D. and jump onto Ric's work. Ric's had to field a lot of questions about his research. He finds Kol to be honestly tiresome, annoying, and privileged in the way that rich kids always seem to be. Ric's seen his share of coasting rich kids at Duke and later at Boston U but Kol's proven difficult to ditch.

"Did that just happen?" Kol asks grinning wide, excited.

"Yeah, guess it did," Ric says. He turns back to the discovery. The rock has opened up to a passageway that slopes down into the heart of the pyramid. Ric can smell the musty dry air from outside.

"This is the coolest thing that's happened all summer! I'm going to go tell the Professor!" and before Ric can stop him, he's running back to the main camp.

Ric sighs and steps up to the new doorway and traces it. There look to be three smooth rock pins that had kept it shut and Ric supposes, triggered by the buttons. The outside of the door he'd cleared away most of the sand when he'd first discovered it, there are still no identifying marks. He hears people chatting excitedly behind him and he turns. People from camp and other dig sites follow behind Elijah who jogs up looking more disheveled than Ric's ever seen, he's had a knack at looking cool and collected the whole summer even in the sweltering heat, until now.

"Don't go inside," he tells Ric quickly.

"I wasn't planning on it," Ric says. He's well aware of 'curses.' It's usually just ancient bacteria or spores. The tomb - if that is what's down the hallway - needs to 'breath.'

"No one goes inside. It that clear." The Professor says sternly to everyone that's gathered around. He's not asking.

A few of his fellow Ph.D. students come up to take a look at the entryway or shake hands with him, congratulating him, excited or jealous. It is actually pretty cool. It takes a while for everyone from camp and other the dig sites to get the word and everyone wants to check out the new cool find. Archeology can be equal parts boring and then exciting when someone finds something. It's how they keep going during long stretches. They finally get some rope and boards to attempt to block it off, to discourage anybody from entering yet. Finally, the commotion dies down and Elijah manages to have a moment with him. He claps him on the shoulder as they stand, peering through the planks. "You did well. Congratulations."

"Thanks, Elijah," Ric says smiling, taking the moment to feel proud. "Did you know when you told me to focus on the obelisk that it would lead to the door?"

"I assure you, I did not." The Professor's lips quirk up into a half-smile. "We'll give it a few days, I think. Let in some new air." Ric nods in agreement.

"I wasn't intending to open the door and take away your moment. I know you've been looking for this place for a long time," Ric says carefully. He's known some academics pride themselves on being the 'first'. Elijah's not like that but Ric still feels like he's stolen his moment.

Elijah smiles warmly at him, "Do not worry about that." He claps him on the shoulder again. "Come. I'm sure your fellow students would like to celebrate tonight." Ric smiles, nodding.

They leave the area then, back to the main camp, chatting about theories and possibilities. They're serving up dinner in the mess tent by now and they separate there. Elijah shakes his hand again, smiling warmly. He departs with his condolences for not being able to celebrate with him. As lead project director he has to report this to the museum in Cairo. Ric understands and heads to the mess tent. He wolfs down some koshary with people asking him all about the new find. He feels like there isn't much to say but he tells them a couple of times of the obelisk buttons, the rock dropping away, the rock pins.

They then resettle at the end of the tent where their makeshift bar is. It has decent stuff for being so far from civilization. Ric figures if there's any night to celebrate tonight is a good one. He has a lot of drinking companions tonight. People ask again and he tells the story a few more times for people not at dinner. They all wanna know what else he knows though. He can only shrug. It was a hunch that would have netted him an interesting dissertation even if he didn’t find anything. He got lucky and sometimes that's half of archeology. You can do all the research and have all the history but that doesn't mean you find anything.

After a few hours and drinks, he's feeling good. The drinking party slowly peters out. The sun tends to leach people's energy throughout the day and late nights aren't a regular occurrence. Ric's feeling the sun today with the mix of alcohol and decides to make his way to his tent he shares with three other guys. He lucks out and one bunkmate is fast asleep and the other isn't in residence yet.

He digs in his suitcase through dirty laundry and finds a small airplane bottle of expensive bourbon in his lining. He'd bought it on one of the plane rides over. He'd squirreled it away, saving it all year. His own reward if he did find anything big. And if he hadn't by the time, he left Egypt it was going to be a celebration that he was at least not going to see sand for a few months. He takes a mouthful savoring the good bourbon. One more drink and the small bottle is empty. He smiles though. It's been a good day and that bourbon has capped it. He lays down on his bunk still clothed and pulls over a blanket. It does get cold at night and he's asleep in a matter of moments.  
   
\---

Since landing in Egypt, Ric's dreams had been getting weird or more accurately weirder. Throughout his life, Ric had always had similar enough reoccurring dreams about dying and the same pale blue-eyed man. He'd never thought much about them other than it was weird. He'd always thought it was just a thing his brain did. Reading biographies or history books before he fell asleep. But since his first night in Egypt, they had increased in their frequency and more detailed. It was like suddenly those past dreams had been fuzzy and now he was dreaming in HD.

Pale blue eyes wake Ric some indeterminate time later. He hears both bunkmates snoring softly so Ric assumes it's at least past midnight. He rolls out of his cot. He's gotta pee. He chugs some water before he leaves the tent though. He's still maybe a little buzzed and as good as that was a few hours ago. It's probably not good for a place that's dead set on dehydrating you. Ric finds the latrines easily enough. On his way back though he sees lights off in the distance towards the pyramid. Which is really odd. Very rarely does anybody work after dark, too many ways to hurt yourself.

He doesn't know why but Ric grabs a flashlight from his tent and makes his way up to the pyramid. It's maybe only three-fourths of a mile and the light gets stronger and he can hear one of their extra generators powering the lights. He reaches the pyramid easily and can see someone left a floodlight at the entrance to the new entryway. The ropes and boards no longer block the door. 'The fuck.' Ric thinks. He doesn't so much care about being the first in but he sure as hell thinks he deserves to be a part of the first team inside. Ric reaches the entryway and he can hear voices inside and see flickering firelight. He starts walking down the shaft pissed. He doesn't initially try to conceal his footsteps but then he thinks better of it, he doesn't know whose down here. He tries to slink down the straight tunnel, down into the belly of the pyramid.

He reaches the end quietly and pauses. There's only one clear way to go. To the left is another entryway. Ric peers around the stone corner. Inside he sees a small antechamber that leads to a medium-sized room. And there, smack dab in the middle, is indeed a dusty gold and ruby intact sarcophagus with a huge death mask. Typical of Egyptian tombs with important residents, there are gold half-finished painted hieroglyphs and depictions of Egyptian people encircling the room. But what isn't typical, is the absence of any of the traditional artifacts found in undisturbed tombs, which is confusing. If it was a tomb there's no furniture, jewelry, or clothing for the deceased to take to the afterlife and no canopic jars with mummified organs. Perhaps in another room, Ric wonders but 'Holy fucking shit,' Ric thinks. He found something really unusual, really huge.

Fire lit torches have been lit around the room, casting a warm glow. The gold on the death mask glitters and Ric realizes it's been moved. It sits askew. The tomb has been opened. 'The hell?'

There are two people inside though and Ric finally focuses on them, now that he's surveyed the room. Ric's surprised to see Elijah. He's standing closer to Ric, perhaps a few yards in front of him, inside the antechamber. Ric's eyes flick to the next person, slightly obstructed from his view, Elijah stands in the way but Ric almost gasps. A man leans elegantly on the death mask, dressed in hardly anything, and he's fucking gorgeous.

Firelight plays off his pale skin, defining muscled arms, chest, and a lanky torso. He's wearing only intricate gold jewelry and a once white cloth kilt, now tanner with age? It's draped elegantly on slim hips, typical of ancient Egyptians, at least as they're shown in the images of them. A glittering gold and red belt hangs delicately around a slim waist and down the front. A gold headband winds sinuously in and out of curling black hair, it dangles down to kiss a smooth chest. A large gold Usekh collar or thick necklace covers the man's shoulders and upper part of his chest. The collar is flecked with dark drops as is his chin Ric notes. Upper gold arm and wrist bands accentuate the mans' muscled arms. He's wearing what Ric's pretty sure are leather and gold spun sandals.

As the man leans on the sarcophagus, he sucks on a plastic bag with what looks like a white medical label and a dark liquid inside. Ric sees numerous empty plastic bags pilled at the man's feet and a cooler. Weird. He pauses briefly to speak in a language Ric can't quite make out. It sounds slightly Latin. If pressed Ric would say it could be ancient Coptic which branched from Latin in ancient Egypt.

"Please. No one speaks that anymore; I barely remember it. I still remember Latin; it's also not spoken anymore but it can work for now. Yes?" Elijah says calmly in Latin Ric realizes. The other man nods after a moment, he looks maybe annoyed but Ric understands him when he says.

"Seriously two dead languages. How long did you say I've been out of it? I was more focused on eating last time."

"Let's say roughly three thousand," Elijah says.

"Screw you and the horse you rode in on," the man says spitting angrily. He throws the empty bag on the ground with the rest.

"They don't ride horses for transportation anymore," Elijah says casually, unaffected by the outburst. "Only for fun."

"It took you that fucking long? Did you have any intention of getting me out? Do I mean so little? Or did it just fade after the first thousand years? Gotta say my body may not have been the only thing that desiccated depending on your answer."

Elijah sighs, "It took that long to figure out what Katerina did and to find you. She covered her tracks well." The other man jerks a little at the name.

"Where is the little cunt? Still fucking around with my brother? Surely she didn't stick around past the first fifty years."

"I think that's a conversation we should have when we’re out of here."

"Speaking of, when will that be. I still can't leave this room. That fucking seal is still there and I don't have my ring."

"We haven't found your ring yet. We've been searching the other side of the pyramid. We think Katerina hid it there." The other man grimaces.

"We haven't found anything in the opened rooms on the other side. We're still working on the seal. I have a witch in Cairo working on it as we speak. We didn’t know what it looked like until now. We obviously didn’t intend to wake you until we at least had the ring but one of my students is smart and too lucky for his own good. He helped me find you though. Centuries of looking and he found you in a matter of years." Ric thinks he almost sounds proud. "Either way the entry was opened and we can't have curious gawkers or vandals finding you desiccated, now can we?"

The man growls as he speaks, "Let them. I'd love to have blood from the vein. These bags are truly awe-inspiring but it's not the same."

"Yes, I understand you'd want a fresh meal but you've already had the man who woke you. What if an intruder got away and came running telling tales of ancient vampires?"

Ric can see a body slumped behind the man now and he gasps involuntarily, stepping back. It's one of the drivers that bring them food once a week. He thinks first 'fuck- what the fuck!' and then 'shit' because Elijah turns unnaturally quickly in his peripheral vision but he's already locked eyes with the other man in the other room. Ric sees nothing but unearthly glowing pale blue eyes, accentuated with black coal eyeliner. He hears a commanding "come to me" and he's moving forward swiftly towards the man, body ready to do so, without Ric registering that he's doing so.

Ric hears distantly through a fog, "Ric! Damon stop!" he feels a hand grab his upper arm keeping him from entirely entering the other room. At the same time, the other man grabs his wrist. Ric tries to walk forward still looking into beautiful blue eyes but the hand on his bicep is strong. The blue eyes are suddenly right in front of him and a cool hand runs up his inner forearm, goosebumps rise on his skin. The man is pulling him towards him.

"I want him," he hears from the pale blues.

"Don't kill him. You'll- I want him alive, human, and unharmed. He's the one who found you. He's useful. I have plans for him." Ric hears a stern but notes of distress in the voice through a fog, his body keeps trying to walk forward. "And he-"

"I don't plan to kill him," pale blue eyes say quickly and Ric's eyes drop to watch as he licks his lips, blood Ric realizes still glistening on his lips. Suddenly his wrist is between those two lips and blunt pressure of teeth then a sharp pain and suction.

"Damon," Elijah growls but Ric barely hears, he's transfixed. The man stops after a moment though, eyes closed in bliss. He licks at the wound and moans.

"Ra, he tastes amazing," the man's eyes open and he reaches for Ric's face but his hand seems to hit an invisible wall and he growls. "What did you eat, drink?" he looks in Ric's eyes.

"Bourbon," Ric whispers automatically and then watches the man's red lips.

"Three thousand years, Elijah. Alone. In the dark. I'm hungry for more than just blood. If I have to stay here for however long it takes for you to find my ring and break that seal and you can't come inside to rectify my needs than I want him. You owe me at least this." The man pulls him aggressively farther over the seal and presses against Ric. Ric's joints protest in the tug-of-war between the two.

Ric hears a resigned sigh. "Promise me. He'll be unharmed."

"I'm surprised by such a show of concern for this human. Has he been taking my place? He does look awfully like…" Pale-eyes' voice trails off and a puzzled then surprised expression comes over his face, then they glow with joy, lips smirking. "If you bring this bourbon he speaks of, water, fire, food, more blood, and enough oils to grease all the bricks of the pyramid, he'll be fine. I promise. Roll a rock in front of the door and come back in a few days," lips twitch.

Suddenly his arm is released and Ric walks across the seal into the arms of the pale blue eyes. "Mmm, hello," he grins and presses his lithe body against Ric. An arm wraps around Ric's waist the other hand lands on his ass.

"Hi," Ric whispers in Latin.

"I'm going to fuck you so hard."

Ric's drowning in blue eyes. "Okay."

"I know why you like this one, Elijah. It's uncanny. I'm surprised you haven't turned him."

"It's not his time yet," Ric hears behind him.

"As you say," Damon says without turning to Elijah, eyes only on Ric.

"I'll bring books, maps. You need to know the world as it is now. We'll have a few days before anything happens with the seal. You can't spend all your time fucking."

"Wanna bet?"

"At least start to learn English," Elijah growls, Ric vaguely hears and then footsteps leaving.

Pale eyes get closer and then wet lips briefly brush his, "Stay," and Ric does. He watches as the shorter man breaks away to push the easily one-ton sarcophagus off the rock dais it rests on as if it's a cardboard box. Ric gasps. The death mask smashes into the wall but he stays rooted to his spot. "That's priceless!"

"What?"

"That's priceless and- heavy," Ric says again in Latin this time. The man shrugs and looks at him, "I've spent over a thousand years with that thing, it's not priceless to me. I don't ever want to see it again."

"Who are you?" Ric finally has the cognition to ask, he can't be what he heard earlier, even if he can see a body. Surely it was a joke. This is an elaborate joke Elijah is playing. Even though Ric knows he's not the type.

"Damon," the man says sliding up to him, smirking. "People use to call me Demon."

"Is that why they buried you on the wrong side of Ra?" Ric asks. He has so many questions, he doesn't quite understand what's happening here.

Damon turns Ric and gently pushes him. His legs catch on the dais the sarcophagus used to rest on and he sits hard on the slab of rock.

"No one buried me." Damon straddles his lap. "I was betrayed by Klaus's pet." He looks away briefly towards the entryway. "And my lover. For a time."

"Vampire?" Ric says again. "That's a joke. Not-"

"Real?" Damon smirks and he picks up Ric's wrist bringing it close to his mouth. The two holes in his wrist sluggishly still bleed and quickly bruising. Ric remembers them now through a fog. Damon's eyes suddenly turn dark and the pale pupils of his eyes glow almost white. Dark veins crawl across his face. Ric jerks his head back surprised and yes, a little scared. But Damon licks at the two holes gently, eyes never leaving Ric's. "Mmmm, you taste good." His eyes are back to normal in seconds. "Your beloved teacher can be very discreet. But with those- blood bags?- it must be easy these days."  
   
"Are you going to kill me?" Ric asks, very aware of the body on the other side of the room.  
   
Damon's hands run along his shoulders and neck. A thumb strokes his throat, "No, I promised Elijah. He holds his promises to me, so I hold mine. Besides I have much better things in mind," Damon says. "Now I'm not going to have to compel you to enjoy yourself, am I?" Pale blue eyes look him in the eyes.

"No," Ric whispers. He doesn’t know why he's so okay with this, he just is. The eyes he thinks, they calm him. They seem eerily familiar.

"Good," Damon whispers back. "It's only fun if you play too." His attention is now on Ric's shirt he plays with his tan button-down shirt, feeling the buttons and then suddenly rips his shirt apart. He smirks as Ric exclaims in English "Hey!"

"Hey," Damon copies in accented English, still smirking. He unclasps his Usekh and drops it over the side of the dais. It must be made of all metal; Ric thinks as it lands heavily on the ground. Damon's pushing Ric onto his back then and leans over him. The gold headpieces fall around Ric's head, framing his vision of only Damon. Ric breaths shallowly as he stares into Damon's eyes.

"What's your name then?" Damon asks, leaning down closer.

"Alaric," Ric breaths. "Ric."

"Ric," Damon repeats his name against Ric's lips without pressing their lips together. Ric closes the small distance, wanting it. Damon hmms against him and grinds his hips against Ric's. Ric can feel Damon's hardness against his own. He feels a hand run down his chest, then traces up his side and twists a nipple. Ric gasps and brings his hands up to run along Damon's back. Damon moans and seems to arch into Ric's touch. He breaks the kiss and groans, "Don't stop touching me." Ric doesn't want to stop. He spreads his hands out covering as much of Damon's skin as he can. Damon purrs, eyes close for a second in bliss.

A distant part of Ric's brain tries to tell him to be afraid, this isn't normal, this isn't professional but Ric can't focus on it as Damon drops down to kiss him. He does something dirty with his tongue. He groans. Ric can't lie, he's definitely had a fantasy about this. Well, not the vampire part- but a shirtless male in a gold collar, gold armbands, and black eyeliner.

The Black Eye Liner.

He'd gotten close on Halloween two years ago but the cheap pharaoh costume-clad master student he'd been making out with decided he didn't want to experiment after all. It'd sucked cause the guy had been hot. Even if he had scored with the guy though that would pale in comparison to right now.

Damon's hands slide down to Ric's pants and spend a long time at his belt. He pulls up then to look at it. Ric puts his hands-on Damon's thighs, just below the kilt. Ric likes the way his eyebrows come together as they frown at Ric's belt. He gets it open easily though now that he can see how it works. He has the button open with a brief look and he leans down to look closer at the zipper. He pulls in down fascinated. "This is skillful metalwork. So small and delicate and on clothing." Ric can only imagine what waking up three thousand years in the future must be like, awe-inspiring surely.

"There's a lot more where that comes from," Ric says, he wonders how Damon will take to TVs, computers, cell phones even.

"I believe you. You and Elijah are strangely dressed," Damon says but he seems to lose interest in clothing as he pulls down Ric's khakis and boxes enough to get Ric's length out. Ric groans as he does so, biting his lip. Ric slides his hand up under the kilt getting a handful of Damon's ass. No undergarments Ric notes.

"Mmm," Damon hums. He takes his other free hand and unclasps his belt and kilt swiftly. They fall away easily and suddenly Ric's overly dressed, with his shirt in pieces and pants still mostly on. Ric licks his hand, it's a little hard because he doesn't have much saliva but he makes do and grasps Damon's straining erection in one hand and strokes downward. Damon lets out the most desperate groan Ric's ever heard. He rocks his hips into Ric's hand. After a few strokes of Damon relishing Ric's hand on his cock, Damon copies him and licks his own and takes Ric in his hand. Ric twists his wrist and slides a thumb across the leaking slit to gain more lubrication and Damon gasps, hips jerking, and mouth dropping open. He whimpers. Damon copies his move and Ric can't help bucking up too. Damon moans and then leans down over Ric.  
   
They pump each for a while, sharing breath, and open-mouthed kisses. Damon suddenly takes both of them in his hand and slides them together, thrusting faster against Ric's. Ric's other hand still strokes Damon's thigh and his other finds Damon's nipple and runs fingers across it. Damon leans down heavily into a kiss. He's thrusting harder, faster, and Ric reaches around and grabs at Damon's ass again, roughly squeezing. "Ah," Damon moans against him.  
   
Ric reaches for their cocks to try and help but his hand is swatted away. He slaps his other hand on Damon's ass and Damon keens against his lips. Ric grips both ass cheeks, squeezing and pulling them apart. He starts thrusting up, dick sliding in Damon's palm and against Damon's own. Damon suddenly gasps and then he's groaning long and hard. It's a sound Ric's not sure he's ever heard before and he loves it. Ric feels hot cum hit his stomach and chest. Hand twists just right and Ric's coming too between them. Damon lays on top of him breathing hard. Lips find his neck and then Ric feels teeth, stinging pain and then Ric feels like he's coming again, bucking up.

When Damon pulls away, lips red, Ric opens his eyes he didn't realize he closed. "You know what you're doing. That's going to makes things very enjoyable." Ric can only take deep breaths. Suddenly Damon's pulling away straightening up in his lap and Ric turns his head to see Kol coming down the tunnel, smirking. He has two large crates with him and rolls them up to the seal. He looks at it judging distance and pushes the carts across it without entering. Damon remains sitting across Ric's lap unashamed of his nakedness or the fact that he's just come and the smell of sex in the air. He puts his hands on his hips.

"Back with the living for thirty minutes and already debauching yourself," Kol says meanly.

Ric sits up, embarrassed, he slings arms around Damon's waist so he doesn't fall and turns away from Kol, hiding his face, his chest, the evidence. Damon looks down at him curiously but adjusts to sling arms around Ric's shoulders. He turns back to Kol.

"At least people want to fuck me Kol. I'm surprised to see you still alive actually. No one's staked you? Ripped off your dick? Set you on fire?"

Kol smirks. "I could say the same to you. The last three thousand years have been great. Too bad you missed them."

"Yes, well, with you still alive how good could they have been," Damon says.

Kol laughs. "Don't fuck too hard Ric. I hear chaffing is real. Oh, and Damon, I tossed in an extra pillow for your knees." Kol waves still laughing and leaves.

"Little fucker," Ric says into Damon's shoulder and Damon laughs. "I like you."

As soon as Kol leaves Elijah comes down the corridor with another box and Ric's suitcase. Damon casually hops off Ric's lap then to walk closer to the entrance, not bothering to put on clothes. Embarrassed to be naked in front of Elijah and evidence of what they've just done on his chest makes Ric's face heat. Ric takes a part of his ruined shirt to whip off his chest and he quickly stands, to tuck himself back into his pants. Elijah hasn't left and is just standing on the other side, eyes roaming over Damon's body. Damon puts his hands on his hips, smirking. He's wearing only his headpiece, sandals, and the gold armbands. "You sure you don't want to hop over?"

"Nothing would get done out here if I did," Elijah says. Damon sighs and stoops down to take a closer look at the crates pushed over the seal. Confused he pulls at the sides, probably expecting a lid. Ric walks over to join them and he flicks the latch on the sides and opens the interlocking doors on top for him. "What is this?" Damon asks as he taps on the container. "Plastic. Everything's made out of it now." Ric tells him.

While Damon's rummaging in the boxes, Elijah silently motions him away from the provisions to the other side of the large doorway, but not over the seal.

"You must feel as though I've abandoned you. Left you to the whims of a monster." Elijah says quietly, motioning to Ric's neck where Damon feed.

"I can hear you," Damon says while he digs in the box.

Elijah sighs. Damon humphs, "Well monster might be a bit strong. I technically have only killed one person in three thousand years and I really couldn't help it. I was literally a husk and starving with hunger."

Elijah closes his eyes, like the comment hurts.

Elijah opens his eyes as he turns back to Ric. He switches to English, "You're taking this rather well."

"Well given the evidence I find it hard to not believe I suppose." Ric doesn't know what else to say. He thinks it odd himself that he's so calm and so quickly become accustomed to his situation. "There's something about him." Ric continues. "I can't put my finger on it." It's like a memory, a dream maybe.

Elijah smiles. "Yes, he does have a certain je ne sais quoi."

"What are you saying?" Damon asks pouting from his seat near the box. Elijah ignores him. "Better not be rude," Damon grumbles, he's pulling things out the boxes.

"Listen," Elijah says quietly again, "I wouldn’t have released you if I knew he wouldn’t take care of you. Please know that." He's looking at Ric in the eyes earnestly and Ric nods. He blushes too. Honestly, he's not blushed this much in years. Ric clears his throat and he looks over at Damon who’s now sitting against the box and popping dates into his mouth and watching them like he's watching a movie. Lips purse every once in a while.  
   
"Are you two done? Have you reassured him that you'll be fine?"

"Yes," Elijah smiles gently, back in Latin but then turns serious. "I still mean it you know. You need to spend some time learning English," he points at Damon. Damon pouts, sticking his bottom lip out.

"Ric's in charge," Elijah says. Damon gapes at him aghast. "Elijah!"

"I mean it!" Elijah says, but Ric's pretty sure he's amused. "Ric can teach you a lot of things, you should learn from him." Damon humphs and drops back against the crate petulantly.

"This is not how I thought our reunion would go." He grumbles.

"Me either, darling." Elijah sighs but doesn't let the moment linger. "Be good. It'll be light soon; camp will be waking. I'll be back at dark to make sure things are alright." Elijah says. Damon and Elijah share one last longing look and then he's turning away, leaving.

Damon sighs deeply watching him go. "That ass," he murmurs. Ric can't help but agree, Elijah does have a nice ass. Damon turns to the pile he's started on the sandy floor. Ric walks over to him and sits. Damon grabs a bottle. "Bourbon," he sounding out the letters awkwardly, reading or guessing the bottle he picks up. The bottle is thrust into Ric's hands. "Drink," Damon says in a commanding voice, but Ric doesn’t feel like he's being forced like before. Damon turns to dig some more in the box. He pulls out a tube, looking to Ric for an explanation. Ric clears his throat, "Lube. Ah- the oils you requested."

"Ah," Damon's eyes shine. But their attention is drawn back to the entrance, they can't see it but Ric hears rock grinding against rock. They really are being sealed inside. Ric's heartbeat picks up, fuck.

Damon's unnaturally still for a while and he looks up briefly at Ric before he starts digging in the box again. "Food, blood, and ah- well, there are pillows and blankets in here, well jokes on Kol. He's not getting any."

Ric snorts, "You're not Egyptian." Beyond the fact that he's pale and blue-eyed, some of his phrasing could be Egyptian and the use of Ra is Egyptian but the way he says other things, the phrasing is not Egyptian at least as far as Ric knows.

"What gave me away? No, I'm not Egyptian," Damon says standing and holding the tube, Ric stands as well. "My brother and I are descendants of Etruscans Kings before the Roman's invaded to set up their little republic. Before Elijah and his 'family' found us." Damon says this all with an edge of disdain. Old wound Ric guesses.

Ric's mouth drops open, realizing fully what Damon just said. "Can you still speak and read the language? The Etruscan language has never been translated. You could fill in so much of missing history." He feels a different rush of excitement.

"You're very odd," Damon's eyebrow quirks up, not answering. "What happened to the Romans? Did the Greeks kick them out? I meet a Spartan woman once. She was a wonder. Not a vampire but could kill men as easily as any vampire I'd ever met. Even turned down my offer to be one."

"Roman's concord the Mediterranean and majority of Europe, even Egypt for a time. Their empire lasted five hundred years in one form or another. They had a huge effect on the world as we know it today."

"Shit." Damon looks stunned and then unhappy. "I don't want to hear anymore." He grabs the bourbon in Ric's hands and breaks the seal, taking a long drink.

When he drinks a fourth of the bottle, he lowers it. "That's good. We're going to need more of that," he says whipping at his mouth. He hands the bottle back to Ric. "I thought I said to drink." Ric complies this time smiling and takes a drink. Damon is holding the tube now and looking at it. He figures it out easily though how to pop the lid and squeezing. Liquid oozes out. "Wonderous," he whispers.

"Sit," Damon motions back to the dais. Ric takes the bottle with him and takes another drink once he's seated. Damon pulls out cushions and blankets and tosses them at him. Ric laughs and tries to assemble them to make the rock slab more comfortable. Damon's opened the second crate having copied Ric's method to open them and grimaces. He holds up a book with a put-upon voice he says, "Elijah."

"I can give you the cliff notes," Ric says laughing.

"Oh? Is there a cliff with notes?" Damon asks walking back over to Ric and takes the bottle from Ric to drink from it again.

"Ah- It's a term for abridged?" Ric says. He's not had to explain the term before. "Like a summary, short cut."

"Sounds more my speed," Damon says and lays down on the nest of blankets. "Those off," he says pointing to Ric's pants.

Ric smiles and stands to remove the rest of his clothing. He still feels a little self-conscious, reality settling in with Kol's appearance. Ric can only assume he and Elijah are vampires too based on the previous conversation. How many vampires are out there that Ric had no idea. Damon has the lube in his hand again and playing with the top, opening and shutting it. Hearing it click. Ric settles a hand over Damon's, that's going to drive him nuts.

"There's something else we can do with that," Ric says, anything to stop the clicking.

"Yes," Damon purrs and it feels natural for Ric to roll him so he covers Damon's chest and kisses him. Like something he dreamed. He's not so sure he can get it up so soon but Damon's already poking him in the hip. He feels a hand grip an ass cheek. Ric takes the lube and pops the cap. He gets some on his fingers and brings them to his own hole. He breaths out slowly as he breaches himself.

"Fuck," Damon says. "I'm going to fuck you so hard."

Ric huffs a laugh, "I know." He works himself open above Damon. He wants to be thorough, it's been over a year, it's not like he's had a lot of sex in the desert, since leaving Boston almost a year ago. Damon takes up the tube and puts some on his own hands and strokes himself watching Ric. He grabs Ric's own. He doesn't harden fully but it still feels good. Suddenly Damon's gone underneath him but he feels hands at his hips. Ric withdraws his hand and kneels on all fours. Without ceremony, he feels a blunt tip and Ric breaths slowly out, relaxing and Damon pushes in. They both groan. Damon's slow at first but he seems to buck unintentionally, fully sheathing himself.

"Fuck," Rick grunts, "It's been awhile."

"You're telling me," Damon says and then pulls out completely, unexpectedly. Ric feels himself clench and the loss but then Damon's pushing in again.

"Jesus," Ric yells.

"It's Damon," Damon laughs and starts thrusting slowly.

"I know," Ric gasps out. "Jesus is-" fuck he's not going to explain and he leans forward on his forearms. Damon picks up speed quickly, slamming home. Ric tries to spread his legs further and he realizes suddenly he is definitely hard. He grabs his own cock again and pumps himself to Damon's rhythm.

"God," Ric breaths, Damon finds and hits that spot inside him expertly. "Harder."

"Fuck yeah," Damon suddenly snaps his hips and pounding into Ric. It's overwhelming, too much, he's still sensitive from coming earlier and it's over for Ric in a matter of minutes. He's coming hard, spots behind his eyelids. Damon seems to be right on pace with him as he comes breaths after Ric. He feels a spreading warmth inside of him and Damon slumps heavily against his back, a cheek pressed to his spine. Ric takes a brief moment to bemoan the fact that he should have asked for condoms but then Ric can only focus on catching his breath. Damon pulls out of him and he can't help wincing. He lays down next to Ric, a satisfied smirk on his lips. Ric adjusts so he's lying comfortably. Damon pulls him close and lips attach to his neck again, sucking at the earlier bite wound. Ric falls asleep with Damon's lips attached to his neck.

\---

Ric wakes slowly, he's warm and relaxed, but- his bed is awfully hard, his neck and wrist throb. He's had such a good dream. He opens his eyes and doesn't know where he is. He sees lit torches and Egyptian wall paintings and then he sits up suddenly and it all comes back to him. He sees Damon sitting on the edge of the rock dais book in hand and eating dates. He looks over at him.

"Finally," he says putting down the container of dates, "You sleep a long time."

"What time is it?" Ric asks, rubbing at his face. He looks around realizing there is no way to tell if it's even night or day in here.

Damon shrugs, "Welcome to my last three thousand years." He slides over and kneels holding the book out in front of him showing its contents to Ric. "Is this real?"

Ric blinks at it, head a little fuzzy. It's a map of the world. "Yes," he says carefully, momentarily confused.

"This is the whole world? There are more lands across the water? Massive? This-" he turns the book around to read from the book and sounds out awkwardly and not quite getting it right, Asia, North, South America.

"Yes," Ric says gently, "That's where I was born. North America. Boston." Ric turns the book around in Damon's hands enough to point out roughly Massachusetts.

"Boston," Damon repeats staring at the map. He traces the North America continent. "Elijah lives there too," Ric says, maybe that helps.

"So far away," Damon says.

"It is," Ric agrees.

"This is all of it? There's nothing left to discover?" Damon asks.

"Well, I wouldn't say that," Ric smiles. "There are still mysteries, still places humans haven't been and places humans have lost. Parts of the Amazon-" he points it out on the map, "still hasn't been explored. We think we know most things but we didn’t know this place existed until we dug it up. Sands finally shifted enough to detect it. We haven't fully discovered the ocean floor either, only seen like five percent or something like that."

Damon finally looks up at him, his eyes are wet. "Ocean floor?"

Ric smiles, "We've invented ways to trap air in containers and swim underneath the ocean. It's expensive and we can't stay down very long, hence it's still primarily unseen. Here-" Ric takes the book, it's an old college physical science book, perhaps Elijah brought it all the way from America for this purpose. Ric flips to a map of tectonic plates and a map of the ocean floor, it has a few pictures with a view in one of the trenches and hands it back. Damon can only stare at it. Ric's not sure if Damon's mind is exploding or he just can't comprehend it. He flips back to the world map after a while.

"Why does Elijah live in Boston?" Damon asks.

"I've never asked," Ric says contemplating all that he's learned in the last few hours. "There have been wars in Europe. Perhaps Elijah fled. A lot of people did. There were lots of upheaval and conflicts. Then there were the World Wars. Practically every country was on one side or the other. Even if you were neutral you weren't necessarily safe."

"World Wars?" Damon asks.

"There were two. The first one, I think some 18 to 23 million people died. If I remember right." Damon looks up quickly at him mouth dropping open, "60 to 80 million people died in the second. Depending on if you factor in the resulting famines and consequences." Ric finishes. Damon's stares at him, brow furrowed.

"Those numbers. Millions? I don't- I can't even imagine what that looks like." Damon says quietly. "Are there any people left?"

Ric smiles and runs a hand down Damon's arm and Damon leans into the contact. "Humans are resilient. There are like almost 8 billion people on earth now."

Damon shakes his head, "I can't fathom those numbers. Billions." Ric nods and instinctually kisses his shoulder. "When we get out, I'll show you. You'll see. "

Damon sighs gloomy, "When."

They spend the day or what Ric thinks is a day leafing through books. Ric tries to give a very abridged history lesson. There is a history textbook of the world in the box and Ric explains and points to the pictures, truncating quite a bit. But just seeing photo's in the books and explaining camera's that it's not magic takes a bit. He tries to summarize lectures he's given but he loves history and explaining it to someone who's never even heard of Julius Caesar let alone Nazi’s makes Ric excited and he talks a lot. Damon listens for a while, asking a few questions here or there but generally just soaking it in. He seems to be staring at lot at Ric's face so he doesn't exactly know how much Damon's soaking up. Damon does start to get a bit glassy-eyed after a while and Ric smiles. It must be truly overwhelming. They pause many times after that for eating, blow jobs, napping, and fucking to break up all the catching up.

Damon laughs, he's lying back against Ric's chest, "Hey wait I think this book says Columbus discovered America."

"No. It's wrong. The Vikings did. Leif Eriksson did." Ric shakes his head vehemently. "And really people say discovered. People were already living in America even when Leif got there."

"But I think I see the name Columbus clearly in this book." Damon laughs. Ric realizes he's probably being teased but he can't let it go.

"Books can be wrong. One thing about history. The loudest and the richest- the victors write the history how they want it. Some cultures had verbal histories and never wrote any of it down and it's been lost." Ric says worked up. If he hears one more person repeat that stupid 1492 rhyme, he'll slap them.

"Hmm," and Damon sobering says, "In that, I can see you being right."

They lay for a while quiet. "Tell me about your childhood, the Etruscans," Ric asks gently, not just because he's intensely curious of a firsthand account but because of Damon's sobering reaction. Because perhaps telling Ric something that Damon knows is something he needs.

Damon shrugs but turns in Ric's embrace, drops the book, and snuggles into Ric's neck. He thinks he's going to feed on his neck again but he just lays his head. "I thought it relatively normal. My mom died in childbirth to me and I never met her. My brother's mother was the only women I knew as a mother but I knew I wasn't her favorite. Father's either. Both were relatively distant. Father really only spoke to me when it involved ruling. Can't say I was looking forward to doing so but I never wanted to see our people suffer. You said they were taken over by the Romans? They never got back their sovereignty?"

"The Etruscans were absorbed into the Roman culture after the last definitive battle. Large swaths of Roman society can be attributed to the Etruscans culture, at least the bits experts on the subject have figured out. There is a region of Italy now called Tuscany after the Etruscans. But they were basically assimilated." Damon is silent.

"How did you meet Elijah?" Ric asks. It seems the next logical question.

"He led the Roman legion that invaded during one of their campaigns. Took us by surprise, defeated Father after only a day. He wasn't great at strategy as it turned out. Too eager to prove himself in battle. Stefan, my brother, and I became spoils of war." Damon said succinctly, with no emotion in his voice. "Elijah took me and his brother Klaus, second in command, took Stefan."

Ric can't imagine. "You became slaves and they split you up?"

"Well in a way. Not the traditional way Roman's held slaves. We still held kings’ blood, even if that king was toppled. Stefan and I still saw plenty of each other though. The brothers went everywhere together and so did Stefan and I."

"Was he a vampire when you met him?" Ric asks. He wants to say this conversation is surreal but he's quickly become accustomed to his new reality.

"Yes, although I didn't know until he drank from me much later." Damon's quite for a bit. Ric wants to ask how Damon became a vampire or even Elijah but he doesn't.

"I'm thirsty," Damon declares and he rolls off Ric to find the bottle. He retrieves it from the base of the dais. There's very little left and Damon frowns. "Did I not say we need provisions for at least a week?" He stares glumly at it and takes a swallow. He hands the remain to Ric.

"Drink, I'd rather spice your blood than finish this," Damon says, his smile is cocky.

"Hmm," Ric says squinting at him. He finishes it though. He feels he's been operating partially buzzed since they took their first break.

"Elijah better come tonight. We're almost out of dates too." Damon pulls over the container and pops one in his mouth.

"So, you clearly eat and drink normal food" Ric starts, he's not sure he understands Damon's limits. Elijah certainly ate food. Ric's never dived into that aspect of literature. Lord of the Rings sure, but not vampires.

"We need blood but eating and drinking still provide pleasure. Not to mention drinking can help with the craving for blood." Damon says. He takes a date and feeds it to Ric.

Ric chews. "What else? Elijah and Kol walk in the sun. That part is a myth?"

"Most vampires can't walk in the sun and live. We have magic rings that allow us to walk during the day. I'm sure you’ve seen Elijah's." Damon says. Ric remembers a large but simple ring on Elijah's hand, it had looked exceptionally old. Heirloom he'd been told.

"The ring you wanted Elijah to find?" Ric pieces it together.

Damon nods sighing. "Mine was taken from me. Added sting, insurance I wouldn't find my way home. If I did get out of this cursed room, I'd be forced to hide during the day in a desert where no shade exists. If I managed to get out of the desert I would still have to find and convince a witch somehow to make a new one if I wanted to travel during the day."

Ric's mouth hangs open, "Witches?"

Damon smirks. "There are a lot of creatures still hiding in plain sight it seems. Witches, werewolves, hybrids. Shapeshifters, Incubus, Selkie." Damon waves his hand as if he could go on.

Ric wonders if his brain hurts the same as Damon's maybe had during their history lessons. Ric breaths out slowly, he smiles easily though. "Incubus?"

Damon smirks too, "I may have tried incubus blood." He crawls up Ric's body to kiss him. He tastes like dates and bourbon. Ric loves it. He slides hands down Damon's shoulder and back. Damon's body chases them as he arches his back. Ric believes wholeheartedly that Damon is touch starved.

"Are you normally this lascivious?" Ric asks smiling.

"Generally," Damon laughs, "But blood usually makes me wants to fuck more and I've had a lot of it lately. Plus, I have a lot of years to catch up on."

Ric files that away as Damon fucks him again and they eat more dates and dried meats. Damon drinks more from Ric's neck. Ric's full and exhausted by the end of it and he falls fully asleep again with Damon clutching and curled up behind him.

\---

Ric wakes sluggish, his head aches and he can't quite open his eyes or doesn't want to, he still feels tired. He hears voices far off.

"-you suspect double-goer?" someone saying.

"No. I suspect reincarnation."

"You can't be serious."

"What else? It's been a long time for me but he looks as I remember Orion to be. Do you not agree?"

"Yes but- reincarnation? What makes you think that?"

"He's been nothing but lucky, good, innocent. Doppelgangers usually bring or are the opposite. And- you've been out of it for a long time, Damon. I've run into Orion- Ric before. Only four times in the last three thousand years but he's always slipped through my grasp before I realized. He's lived more lives than that I'm sure but perhaps didn't make it to us. Throughout my long life, I keep running into the same individuals. Sometimes a thousand years or only a decade would pass before I see them again but I kept running into them. Rebekah started to notice it too. It took a while but I think I understand it now. He's part of our soul group." Someone lets out a sob.

"He's hunted you down twice now, that I know of, in one way or another. I haven't mentioned but another student found a skeleton two days ago. It's very, very old."

A sniffle, "You said lucky? How can he be lucky to find us again?"

"Lucky for you-"

Ric shudders, cold. He feels clammy. He rolls onto his back, reaching around for a blanket or something, but his arms feel too weak. A hand grasps his outreach hand and then a hand on his cheek, "shh, shh" Ric hears quietly.

Ric tries to say 'he's cold,' but he's pretty sure it comes out a mumble.

"He's sluggish, you've been drinking too much."

"No, I-"

He thinks a finger is suddenly thrust into Ric's mouth. It tastes earthy and coppery. It slides on his tongue and fluid starts to fill his mouth and Ric swallows involuntary. He instantly feels better, headache dissipates. As he drifts back to sleep, a blanket is wrapped around him, fingers play across his face, his hair, and he faintly hears, "He's fine now, I forgot to heal. Won't happen again."

\---

Ric doesn't know how long they spend sleeping, reading, or fucking the next day but Ric feels good. His wounds have healed and when asked about them Damon mentioned what his blood can do and finds out he missed Elijah's check-in. They switch between history and English lessons, food, and sex. Elijah visits that evening on the second day while Damon and Ric are splitting day old falafels and dried meats.

Damon hears the rock move before Ric does and Elijah strolls down the hallway and around the corner dragging more boxes filled with more food, bourbon, and fuel for the torches. He brings candles and a battery-powered camping light too. Elijah sits just shy of the seal while Damon pilfers the boxes. Ric sits across from him and asks for a watch next time but Elijah takes the one from his wrist and tosses it to Ric. Damon takes it from Ric's hands before Ric can really take a look at it and he sits back on one of the boxes, fascinated by it, watches it tick, listens to it, and then plays with the dials.

Ric leans against the other new box and pulls out water. He chugs half of the bottle gratefully. He's losing a lot of fluids down here. Ric finishes taking out the items then so Elijah can take the crates back. Ric sees Elijah watching Damon play with the watch. Ric smiles and in English, he says, "So the Demon Tomb huh?"

Elijah's eyes flick over to him and he smiles almost sheepishly. "I don't know what he's said or what you know but I've been looking for this place for as long as he's been in this tomb." Ric nods, that he's gathered.

"I don't think I can ever thank you enough for getting us this far," Elijah says. Ric shrugs self-deprecating. It'd been fun and it had its exhilarating moments. It's been what he hoped life would be like when he'd gotten into archaeology, a mystery with just a bit of adventure. "I mean it," Elijah says, "I'll never forget it."

Ric laughs gently. "Well next time you need to find a lost tomb let me know."

Elijah smiles gently. "Not a tomb, but a ring."

"Damon mentioned that. Unfortunately, I would probably be looking where you already have been." Ric sighs. He doesn't know where it would be hidden. If it was hidden with spite he couldn't begin to know. It could be anywhere.

While Damon still seems distracted Elijah asks Ric if he's alright. "I'm fine," Ric says easily, really. He could do with a shower, but they don't even have great showers at the main camp.

"He's not asking too much of you? I can speak to him."

"It's been alright, really. I think I could use some more water, maybe a Gatorade, and a towel to clean up with though," Ric smiles. "I can't remember when I last had this much action," he laughs but realizes what he's said. "I'm sorry." He says pausing unloading boxes. "You two clearly have a relationship and I'm here, in the middle."

Elijah's shaking his head as Ric finishes. "I've never denied Damon anything. I know he'll be there when I need him. Damon's free to do as he wishes, besides he's a hard one to say no to. He's always been able to express his needs more than I have. We were never each other's one and only, but the one that we always came back to. I don’t necessarily expect things to be the same either after all these years."

"You're talking about me," Damon says interrupting and sliding to sit in Ric's lap. "I broke it," he pouts and hands the watch back to Ric. Ric laughs, he gets his hands free and fiddles with the dials.

"Just stuck," Ric says and gently messes with the dials and pushes it back in so the watch starts to tick again. "Is this the actual time?"

"I don't know how to read that thing," Damon says. "Well I can read the numerals one through twelve but I can only guess at the rest." Ric hands it to Elijah and he changes the time back to his best guess and slides it back across the barrier.

"Can you take the body?" Damon asks. "It starting to smell." Elijah agrees.

Ric looks down feeling horrible about that. Damon had moved the body behind the sarcophagus when Ric was asleep and out of sight out of mind. He hadn't been someone Ric knew well, only talked briefly and only about where to unload.

His gaze still on Damon's lap. Ric realizes he's actually wearing his kilt again; he hadn't gotten dressed until now. Ric at least wears his boxers. The stone dais isn't that comfortable.

"Anything else?"

"What did you tell people about me? Where I've been." Ric asks.

"You got sick in the middle of the night after you opened the pyramid. Took you to hospital in Sohag." Ric nods, makes sense, added security to stay away.

"No ring?" Damon asks and Elijah shakes his head. "We've put all available bodies working long hours. They don't question it. We don't have much longer here; people want to get done and much as possible in case they can't come back."

"What do you mean?" Damon asks.

"We only have rights- permission to be here for a year," Elijah says. "We only have about two months left."

"Year? Month? What if we don't find my ring? What if the witch doesn't break the seal?" Damon sounds a little desperate, agitated, squirming in Ric's lap.

"The new calendar, about thirty-days in a month," Ric prompts gently. The Roman calendar hadn't been fully invented until after Damon's internment. They'd briefly gone over it. Damon grimaces.

"We'll get you out, Damon. I'm not leaving until we do. When you get out, I've already talked to Kol, he'll keep looking when the rest of the students pack up. He'll keep looking if we don't find the ring by the time we leave. But my witch can make a new ring if it comes to it."

Damon's still frowning and he re-adjusts leaning against Ric's chest. He crosses his arms and kicks at the barrier with the heal of his foot. "Where are we going to go?" he asks sounding grumpy. He hasn't gotten good news. Ric can't help but slide his arms around Damon's waist.

"Back to Boston," Elijah says.

"Not Italy?" Damon asks sounding sullen.

"It would certainly be a shorter trip but I have responsibilities I have to take care of when I get back. I'd like to keep the life there intact for a few more years." Elijah explains. "And Ric has to go back there." Elijah seemingly adding an incentive, he's watching Damon.

Ric can't see Damon's face but he doesn't know why him being in Boston matters so. He doesn't know what his future will be after this, with these two, but he feels like he wants to still be in their lives after this. He's not ready to let go. He's been quickly and deeply tangled into their lives. The knowledge and experience these two people have. It spurs Ric's imagination and curiosity, not to mention his desire.

Elijah takes off after a few hours saying he'll return soon and he takes the body with him.

\---

They spend their days pretty much repeating their first few. Eating, fucking, and studying. Elijah visits most nights to bring provisions, see how they're doing, and keep them updated. He brings a lot of blood and food; Damon eats a lot. He says it's going to take a while before he feels truly full and able to push it out of his mind. Three thousand years is a long time to be hungry, Damon explains.

Ric continues to teach and he dabbles a bit in the physical sciences but focuses on major events in history and English. Ric finds after the first day Damon gets distracted easily. They again break up bouts of attempted studying when Damon wants blow jobs or blood or food. Damon enjoys the English lesson they play by identifying body parts but that lesson won't get him very far. Ever since he learned English for 'dick' he likes to say it. He's a bit like a five-year-old.

"What does this say?" Ric asks sitting against a wall, Damon choosing to sit in his lap. He has Harry Potter, of all books, in his hands. Someone at camp must have brought it with them to read and Elijah borrowed it. It's probably the lowest reading level they have at camp.

"I don't know," Damon practically whines. Ric sighs, learning English is not going well. It's not like Ric's had to teach anyone before. They don't have paper to write with so beyond giving Damon vocabulary he doesn't know how else to teach it than to see the words and translate.

"The," Ric points to the chapter title.

"The," Damon says sourly in English.

"Boy."

"Boy."

"Who Lived."

"Who Lived."

"See, easy," Ric says falsely positive.

Damon humphs. "Tell me something," Damon says back in Latin. He turns to Ric and runs a hand down Ric's chest. "I've been meaning to ask. Elijah said he has plans for you. Have you two fucked yet."

Ric frowns, recognizing the distraction tactic. "We're just friends. What does this say?" He tries to continue.

"Because you want that? Or he does?" Damon plows on undeterred, hands running down Ric's sides, sliding to his lower back.

"I-"Ric pauses, maybe he owes Damon this, especially since it's clear Damon wants to continue a relationship with Elijah, "I thought perhaps after I finished my degree we might- might become better acquainted. He's my academic advisor. I thought that once he was no longer involved in my education, we might be able to explore that option." Ric stumbles through.

"Elijah and his honor. That is the most boring story I've ever heard." Damon says rolling his eyes.

"Well it doesn't really matter anymore does it," Ric sighs. Why is he telling him this, Ric doesn't honestly want to talk about it. After this whole thing, Damon and Elijah will continue whatever they've been doing and Ric's certain he'll be out in the cold. He knows he's just a tool right now, slack Damon's lust and needs but that doesn't mean he isn't developing feelings for the gorgeous, frustrating, squirrely man- vampire.

"How so?" Damon asks as he swings a leg over Ric's lap, straddling him and crushing Harry Potter against Ric's legs in the process.

"Well, he'll have you, won't he?" Ric says frowning. "Unless I mistook your relationship."

Damon smirks. "Well he will have me and I plan to take up much of his time, but I don't tell him who he can and can't fuck. He'll say the same about me. Well- now." Damon says the last as an afterthought. "But we've shared partners before. I could see us all thoroughly enjoying ourselves." Damon leans in to kiss him and then up to his jaw. Fingertips slide across his ribs.

Ric's surprised. That thought hadn't even occurred to him but why would they want Ric. He's human and they're gorgeous and everlasting. Ric had felt more like he was just a convenience for them. Ric has more to say but Damon's doing wonderful things to his ear and maybe he should take what he can get right now.

"What do you mean by now?" Ric asks finally, swallowing thickly, curiosity getting the better of him.

Damon sighs and draws back from Ric's ear but not far, "Well I said we were enslaved. I made Elijah aware that I had certain inclinations and skills. He took advantage himself which was my initial goal back then. Lay with the King and wind him around your finger you're as good as free, but then he asked me to use my skills for the family. I gave it a shot and it turned out I was pretty good at being able to get information out of people that others in Elijah's family could not. Well, not without killing or maiming or being subtle." Damon leans back in to whisper into Ric's ear. "I was very good."

"Subtle?" Ric can't help but smile.

"When I want to be!" Damon gasps pulling back but he's smiling. "I paid my dues in only a few years and was given my freedom. Elijah offered a place among his bloodline, be a part of his family. Become my own person again. Then I slept with Elijah and did the other things because I wanted to and not necessarily because Elijah wanted it." Ric has more questions but Damon's hand finds a nipple and squeezes. He gasps and Damon laughs, "Now what do I have to do to get fucked around here?" Ric shakes his head smiling and Damon leans in to kiss him hard. He runs his hands up and down Damon's back and he moans into the kiss. Damon grinds his hips against Ric and they don't get much else done for another few hours.

\---

"I'm serious. You have to learn this. Better now when there's nothing to do than when we're out there and a lot of other distractions," Ric says trying to coax Damon back to English.

Damon yawns and stretches out naked on their make-shift bed. "I thought I trapped you here with me for sex."

"We just had some," Ric laughs. "Now I'm doing Elijah's bidding to catch you up."

Ric leans over and swats Damon's bare ass with the new notebook they've acquired.

"Oooh I like that," Damon wriggles obscenely on the blanket next to him.

But Ric's resolve is solid. Or he can't possibly get it up again so soon, whichever, he will not be deterred. "Come on. This'll be easier than the book."

"Fine," Damon sighs, lamenting. He rolls over and crawls into Ric's lap, his preferred learning position. He lays against Ric's chest. "Teach." He waves his hand onward, like telling his dogs to mush. Ric smiles. He's written down a few three-word, four-word sentences, like 'The cat is black.' 'Damon is a cat.' 'A big black cat. '

It goes over well as Damon laughs and holds his attention for as long as Ric can write funny sentences.

"I tell you what," Ric says when they're both tired, but made good progress. "If you can read-" he pulls out Harry Potter again and finds a paragraph that's not too hard. Doesn’t have too many terms, magical or otherwise Damon won't have heard of. "If you can read this paragraph in by the time we leave, I'll give you a reward." Damon definitely seems to be motivated when there something tactile he'll get out of it.

Damon cocks an eyebrow at him skeptical. "What kind of reward? We have plenty of bourbon, Elijah provides the food, and you're as willing to fuck as I am. What could you possibly reward me with?"

"A sexual favor, I'm certain you've never gotten," Ric says smugly. He's fairly sure anyway. As experienced as Damon appears to be, rimming was not considered a clean act back then, taboo. Romans tended to look the other way on homosexuality but rimming, for the most part, wouldn't be even considered. At least what he's read, which made sense for the time. They didn't have Listerine back then and Ric does. Besides he likes Damon's ass, Ric would eat him out happily, especially if it's the first time. Damon's still squinting at him considering, lips pursed, mouth cocked to the side as he deliberates Ric's proposal.

"You won't regret it," Ric cajoles. "I'll blow your mind."

"It better," Damon says still squinty but agreeing, he's intrigued at least.

"Alright." Ric beams.

**Author's Note:**

> Didn't try very hard to have Damon not talk modern. Sorry if that ruins the illusion, it wasn't really my focus in this.
> 
> Have 1.5 more chapters mostly written.
> 
> Did look up quite a bit of Etruscan, Egyptian, Roman, and general world history for this. I find it fun. Resources - Google, Wikipedia.


End file.
